Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 110 - 105: Mastery of Throwing

Chapter 110: Chapter 105: Mastery of Throwing

"No retreat!"

"Prepare for battle!"

With the General’s order, the battle between the Sheng Army and the bandits officially erupted!

The General, mounted on his warhorse, with the Zhenyuan Bow slung on the side, and dressed in Great Sheng Dynasty’s high-ranking military officer’s armor, looked spirited, dignified, and imposing.

"Follow me to charge and kill!"

The General shouted as he waved his spear and charged out in the lead!

Seeing this, the soldiers quickly drew the battle sabers from their waists and followed suit.

Li Hongyun also hurriedly took up his spear and followed.

At this moment, the scene Li Hongyun saw was virtually no different from what Su Chengbai had seen; it was the same battle.

The soldier count of the Great Sheng Dynasty was roughly three times that of the bandits, which undoubtedly gave the home side an advantage in numbers.

But Li Hongyun had already mentally prepared himself.

Because he could tell at a glance that this battle would not be easy!

As a history student, he also had a good understanding of that era.

In the middle and late periods of the Great Sheng Dynasty, the entire coastal defense system, along with established hundred-family garrisons and thousand-family garrisons, had fallen into neglect, and the actual number of combat-ready soldiers had dwindled, not to mention that the garrison soldiers had long been negligent in their training, and the weaponry in the arsenal had become relatively obsolete and even showed signs of decay.

The bandits, however, were another story.

At this time, the Eastern Barbarians were in a period of turmoil involving multiple countries fighting each other. Although the so-called "national battles" were not large in scale, more akin to village-to-village conflicts, this frequent and intensive fighting had indeed produced a group of merciless, highly skilled, and well-equipped professional soldiers.

When compared, the disparity in strength was immediately apparent.

The chaos caused by bandits was not to say that the Great Sheng Dynasty was inferior to the Eastern Barbarians; after all, one side consisted of garrison soldiers who had neglected their training and scarcely had any combat capability left, hardly different from ordinary civilians; whereas the other side consisted of the Eastern Barbarian’s veteran warriors who were superior in both skills and weapons.

As expected, as soon as the battle began, the soldiers of the Great Sheng Dynasty started to fall back steadily!

Although the General kept charging into the fray on horseback, trying to rally his troops, signs of crumbling morale and soldiers wanting to flee still emerged.

Seeing this, Li Hongyun knew it was definitely time for him to step up!

The previous Trial Illusion was like this, where players were involved in battles that were nearly guaranteed losses without taking action, and only by executing game-changing moves could players successfully complete the instance.

With this in mind, he immediately stepped forward, thrusting his spear fiercely at one of the bandits!

Li Hongyun felt quite good about himself.

Although he could not say he was physically very strong now, he had been granted the "Spear Mastery" talent, and muscle memory of various spear techniques had been infused into his body. And even if the garrison soldiers neglected their training, their physical conditioning was still much better than that of ordinary farmers or fishermen.

In Li Hongyun’s eyes, his spear thrust was quick, steady, precise, and ruthless, aimed straight at the chest of the bandit in front of him.

This bandit appeared to be one of the enemy’s elites; he was wearing light armor and an ostentatiously designed Eastern Barbarian helmet on his head, and the barbarian saber he wielded was significantly longer than those of the others, a difference that was apparent in every respect.

He could be described as a battle-hardened Wandering Warrior among the bandits, having effortlessly slashed down seven or eight soldiers of the Great Sheng Dynasty.

Soon, Li Hongyun’s spear tip reached the bandit’s chest, seemingly about to pierce the heart!

The Wandering Warrior was not wearing any heavy armor, so it stood to reason he couldn’t withstand this thrust.

But in the next second, something that dumbfounded Li Hongyun happened.

The battle-hardened Wandering Warrior, far from panic, held his elongated saber in both hands with a calm demeanor, positioned it upright to meet the side of the spear, and then both parried and slashed.

His explosive power was immense, and with a crisp "snap," the wooden shaft of the spear was cut into two pieces!

Li Hongyun was stunned, his fine spear reduced to a wooden stick.

But before he could react, the Wandering Warrior’s saber came slashing down again.

In a rush, Li Hongyun raised the broken spear shaft to parry, but it was futile; the Wandering Warrior’s graceful two-strike combo first chopped the shaft and then felled Li Hongyun.

Finally, the blade thrust forward to deliver the coup de grâce, bringing the battle to a bloody conclusion.

The entire historical snippet froze in time and reverted to the beginning.

...

Li Hongyun began to doubt his life.

The Wandering Warrior’s final series of actions was indeed handsome, but sadly, it was Li Hongyun himself who was struck down.

"I clearly have the ’Spear Mastery’ talent, so why am I still getting thrashed by the bandits...

"Could it be because my own combat skills are quite weak? And also, the spears and armor of the soldiers are too rudimentary; the equipment is just not up to par.

"The spear was cut in half after just one clash; there really is no way to fight like this.

"And furthermore, this bandit doesn’t seem like an ordinary bandit.

"I recall watching the instance recordings of ’Final Verdict Awaits the Closing Coffin,’ and although there was also a Wandering Warrior there, this one seems much stronger.

"Not only is he wearing light armor, but his barbarian saber is also significantly longer, and his combat skills have likely improved.

"In other words, that last instance was just a small bandit squad attacking a minor county town, not the strongest lot; but now, I’m facing a bandit force daring to clash head-on with the regular Sheng army, obviously all seasoned elite warriors, more ferocious.

"The General of the Great Sheng Dynasty did put up a brave fight, but after all, one can hardly support alone. It seems I need to find a way to cooperate with that General if I am to win this battle.

"Change the strategy!"

After testing the enemy’s combat strength, Li Hongyun was certain that the talent "Spear Mastery" was not very useful.

Switch it out!

When he first saw a flash of white light where the second card appeared, Li Hongyun felt a bit disappointed.

But after he clearly saw the name of the skill, he cheered up.

Not bad!

This talent seems to be quite suitable for me!

In fact, Li Hongyun’s archery skills were not bad either, but the problem was that his role as a small soldier did not come with a bow and arrow.

Bows and arrows were considered luxury items in ancient times and not every soldier could afford them.

The General did have a high-end Zhenyuan Bow, but Li Hongyun couldn’t just run over and say, "General, lend me your bow," could he?

He’d likely get an earlier taste of the blade from the General than of combat with the enemy.

This Throwing Mastery, however, could at least allow him to make good use of the spear in his hand to try his luck.

As for what to do after throwing the spear...

He’d think about that when the time came.

...

The Trial Illusion resumed its operation.

"Kill!

"Any who retreat in the face of battle will be executed without mercy!"

The General once again charged into the enemy ranks, spear in hand, swiftly flipping and tossing several bandits.

Li Hongyun watched with great envy.

When will I be able to possess such skill?

It would be great if I could play the role of this General later on; maybe I could sponge off some of his muscle memory to improve my spear techniques and horsemanship.

But he didn’t have the luxury to ponder that at the moment, as both sides were already engaged in battle again.

The bandits slashed and thrust, and the soldiers of the Great Sheng Dynasty showed signs of crumbling once more.

This time, Li Hongyun was smarter. He didn’t recklessly seek out that seasoned bandit with the extended Eastern Barbarian blade but instead aimed at a target further away who wasn’t wearing armor.

This enemy also looked fierce but was evidently at the bottom of the ranks among these armed bandits.

Li Hongyun took a deep breath, held the spear in his right hand backward with the tip raised over his head, stretched his left hand forward, his entire body taut like a fully drawn bow.

Then, with a burst of force, his whole body drove his wrist, hurling the spear fiercely!

This movement had a taste of javelin throwing.

The Great Sheng Dynasty soldiers beside him were utterly baffled.

Has this man... gone mad?

The chances of hitting your target with a long-distance spear throw were slim, and on top of that, throwing away your spear meant you were unarmed!

If you wanted to commit suicide, this wasn’t the way to do it, right?

However, in the next second, everyone’s jaw dropped.

The released spear traced a perfect parabola through the air, and as it descended, the shaft of the spear bent slightly. Carrying the force of gravity and the throwing momentum, it pierced straight into the back of a bandit!

With a "puff," the bandit face-planted into the dirt, struggled for a moment, but never managed to stand up again.

He presumably wanted to turn around and see where that lethal strike came from, but in the end, he failed.

He died without understanding why.

The bandits were also stunned.

What kind of fighting technique was this?

Unheard of!

Li Hongyun almost wanted to put his hands on his hips and laugh heartily three times.

I truly am a genius!

However, his joy didn’t last long.

That seasoned bandit, who had been at a distance from him, noticed him because of this strike and, with a vigorous leap, arrived in front of him!

"Ah!"

Li Hongyun hadn’t even reacted when the sharp Eastern Barbarian blade flashed and cut him down.

Damn!